1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus which drops foreign substances by vibration from an image sensor or a low pass filter, a cover glass and the like on the image sensor, thereby removing the foreign substances, and a foreign substance removing method in the image capturing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a digital camera which no longer uses films, in a case where foreign substances (dust) are attached to an image sensor or a low pass filter, a cover glass and the like on the image sensor, the shadows of the foreign substances always come out in photographed images obtained thereafter. In the digital camera, since a mechanical operation such as film feed by each image capture is not performed, the attached foreign substances stay in the same position.
Various methods to remove such foreign substances have been proposed. As one of the methods, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-319222 discloses causing an element such as a low pass filter or a cover glass to vibrate and letting foreign substances attached to the elements drop.
However, in the conventional technique, upon removal of foreign substances by vibration, the filter, the cover glass or the like is vibrated while a quick return mirror is in a down state and a shutter is closed. The foreign substances dropped by the vibration cannot get out of the camera main body. To collect the dropped foreign substances, a double-faced tape or the like may be provided around a position between e.g. the shutter and the filter or the cover glass. The foreign substances are attached to the tape, thereby fly-off of the foreign substances can be prevented. The double-faced tape can be exchanged at a service center but it cannot be exchanged by a user herself/himself. Accordingly, in a case where the adhesivity of the tape is lowered, foreign substances cannot be caught with the tape and may fly within the camera.